Character design - Jonathan Edwards.

Character design - Jonathan Edwards.

Jonathon Edwards designed a character named Inspector Cumulus, a character he worked on and got turned into a collectible toy. It took a lot of refining and input to be sent to the factory to get it done. But the figure looked very good when it was complete, which is good. The final product was all down to working along side designers and being very sure about what he wanted. Being confident enough to tell people exactly how things should be takes some real guts and I admire that.

Tips that Jonathan Edwards gave to the students included, Never wait to be asked when it comes to collaborative work, if you feel like you want to work with somebody ask them -politely if you can- and if they say no then it’s their loss and all that. If you have any problems, attempt to ask somebody who will know how to resolve the problem, and possibly do it for you out of sympathy and pity.

Try and do it right. If you can’t do it right. Try harder to do it right the next time. (Rinse and repeat.)

Theming, repeat colours, shapes and ideas to sew your projects together. A theme can be as simple as basing everything around circles and colours but can expand out infinitely. We can theme around the culture we live in (Britishness) or use colours to theme around certain emotions. A theme is merely a core idea that grows out and embraces the things around it. That’s why research is so invaluable. To understand the core system your project hinges upon will help to simplify and condense your work. Make it stronger and more palatable.

Remember that things can change quickly and to always ground things in reality. And keep a sketchbook.

Karen Cheung. creative Futures.

KAREN CHEUNG

BA(Hons) Natural Sciences (Zoology)
University of the West of England, Bristol
BA(Hons) Illustration 1st 2002-2003
Pembroke College, Cambridge University
MA Cantab. 2003-2006

Cheung states that she is obsessed with freaks, weirdos, outsiders and mythological beings.

Karen Cheung started out in zoology before she moved onto illustration due to being more interested in the doodles she would do while listening to her lecturers. She won the Macmillan prize for children’s picture book illustration in 2006 and has worked for many clients including Virgin Media, Paramount comedy and penguin books. As well as illustration Karen Cheung specialises in animation, winning the BBC new animator runners up prize in 2005.

Karen Cheung is represented by her agent, Jelly, who helps her track down work and stay productive. An agent takes a cut from the pay on offer, but you are more likely to find work using one.

Karen Cheung offers the advice that we should all:

Learn to take rejection. (Thicken our skin)
Be as versatile and reliable.
To always trust yourself.
Never take anything personally.
Do your Tax returns.

In the event that you want to get into editorial publishing then one should draw people, and check the roster of the company you are interested in, making sure to check that your style will fit in with the house style of anyone you might want to work with.